


Under the Mistletoe

by volleydorks



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Actually does this count as fluff?, Christmas, Crying Oikawa Tooru, First Kiss, Fluff, I don't know what qualifies as fluff but let's call it fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mistletoe, New Years, Oikawa's glasses, Pouty Oikawa, Protective Iwaizumi Hajime, Smooching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 12:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13294461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/volleydorks/pseuds/volleydorks
Summary: In light of the new year, Oikawa decides to go to Iwaizumi's house to collect him for team practice.(Spoiler: They practice something, but it's most definitely not volleyball.)





	Under the Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> So, since I've been writing a lot of depressing ass scenes lately in my other fics, I decided I'd take a break to attempt writing some fluff in light of the new year. Decided to blast out some various songs by Tatsuro Yamashita (shout-out to 'To Wait for Love' from his album Rarities, I fucking love that song) while writing this and this is what I ended up with lmao
> 
> There's some light swearing in this (honestly, there's like seven swear words in total and that's good for me)

Under the Mistletoe

      “Happy new year, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa was standing at Iwaizumi’s front door with his glasses on, wrapped up snug in a large duffle coat and some red gloves. His cheeks were rosy from the cold weather and he held a small gift box in his hands. It was wrapped in silver wrapping paper, and it even had a little bow on it. There was a label attached to the bow, which read ‘To Iwa-chan! From the great Oikawa-san’. To be fair, Oikawa had only added ‘-san’ to his own name to make it rhyme. Since there wasn’t enough space for him to write the lyrics to his favourite song, he’d had to settle for squeezing in Iwaizumi’s favourite name. His. (At least, that’s what Oikawa was hoping was the case.) Iwaizumi looked at the gift box for a few moments, but his attention was drawn back to Oikawa when he began to speak. “You ready to go practice?”

      “It literally _just_ became January,” Iwaizumi responded. He was still in his pajamas. His pajamas weren’t anything too special, just a plain black shirt with matching pajama bottoms, but Oikawa was still unable to take his eyes off Iwaizumi.

      “ _Actually_ , it’s one p.m. right now. So, it was _thirteen_ hours since it first became January, Iwa-chan. If it was twelve-oh-one a.m., then it would’ve _just_ become January. See, that’s why you’re failing maths—” Iwaizumi went to punch Oikawa, but Oikawa wisely stepped out of his reach. “Don’t be mean,” Oikawa whined. “I’ll take this gift back where it came from.”

      Iwaizumi snorted. “Go ahead.”

      “I will. _Really_. I mean it,” Oikawa said, turning around and stomping away from Iwaizumi’s front door. He watched the brunette with a slight smile on his face, counting down from ten in his head. By the time he’d made his way down to the number _six_ , Oikawa was speed-walking his way back over to Iwaizumi’s door, where the latter was waiting for him with both eyebrows raised. “You’re so mean, Iwa-chan.”

      Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. “If you really want to practice, give me ten minutes. I’ll go get dressed. Are the others already at the school gym?”

      “Yeah, Makki’s there with Mattsun.”

      “Alright. At least that means I won’t go crazy trying to keep up with you,” Iwaizumi muttered, turning to go back inside his own house. Oikawa’s gaze drifted over to the sky, where it had still neglected to snow. It hadn’t snowed on Christmas Day, nor had it snowed on New Year’s. If this was meant to be winter, it was very disappointing indeed. _All the cold, but none of the fun_.

      Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow. “You coming in?”

      Oikawa shrugged and walked into the house, looking around himself. He’d been to Iwaizumi’s house a few times, but never during a time such as New Year’s. There were some New Year’s decorations hanging around, streamers that were falling off the walls and some empty bottles of champagne. “My parents have massive New Year’s celebrations each year,” Iwaizumi offered as explanation. “We’re still yet to clean it up.”

      “Why wasn’t I invited?” Oikawa pouted, slightly jealous that he’d been left out of this celebration. Oikawa himself had spent New Year’s at home, thinking about how much he wanted to go and practice. He’d played with his volleyball for a bit, although he eventually grew tired of not having a net to practice his serves with. Then, he’d gone on social media and made fun of Kageyama’s selfies. _Seriously, why does he take them against the light? And who told him duck faces were a good idea? Oh my God, he’s even sticking his middle finger up here. When did first years become so wild?_ He’d had some good fun with that, at least until Kageyama had blocked him. He went and stalked the rest of Karasuno on social media, not having much else better to do. It was amazing just how much you could find out about someone’s life based on their online activity. For example, Karasuno’s baldy had a fanpage dedicated to ‘the great Kiyoko-san’, which was co-owned by their libero and Nekoma’s city boy. It had six followers — the baldy’s main page (@fuckcityboys), the libero (@rollingthanda), the Nekoma city boy (@yamamotorbike), their cute blonde manager (@yachihitoka), Karasuno’s #10 (@smallgiant2.0) and most recently, Oikawa himself, at the best handle ever: @itsyaboikawa. He’d followed that page, knowing damn well he’d get some amusement from there soon. The people in Karasuno were quite a bunch, so to say. Once he’d amused himself from scrolling through their posts, he’d clicked on another handle: @localsugamuma. This was Mr Refreshing’s account, Oikawa had realised. Him and Karasuno’s captain were always active under each other’s posts, Suga leaving an abundance of emojis while the captain left heartfelt comments that warned even Oikawa’s heart. Karasuno’s #10 had lots of pictures with his family, most notably his younger sister Natsu. The point was that everyone had someone special out there, everyone except Oikawa. He’d eventually grown tired of seeing what everyone was doing and went to sleep, not having anything else to do. Oikawa’s mother was a businesswoman who practically worked every hour of every day and Oikawa didn’t really see his father, since his parents were divorced. The only time he ever got to see people was from behind a screen.

      “You think I was involved with this party?” Iwaizumi snorted. “I was in my room. I don’t really fancy listening to my folks speak about _mortgages_ and _increasing gas prices_ on New Year’s.”

      “Still.”

      Iwaizumi sighed. “Fine. Come here.” The two walked into the living room, where there were some party snacks laid out on the large table. Since Iwaizumi’s house wasn’t too big, the living room, dining room and kitchen were all kind of combined into one large multipurpose room. In the centre was the table, where there were some snacks and the remains of some white icing cake. Iwaizumi went over, selected a nice-looking slice for Oikawa and placed it on a paper plate before handing it over to Oikawa. “Will you _please_ stop pouting now?”

      “No. I won’t.” Oikawa began to eat the cake, but he still had a pout on his face. Iwaizumi heaved out a deep sigh, unable to believe just how _difficult_ Oikawa could be sometimes. They’d been friends since childhood, but he was still so… _Oikawa_.

      “Well, I’m going to get changed. I’ll be down in five.”

      Oikawa didn’t respond. He was still too busy pouting about the fact that he hadn’t been invited to Iwaizumi’s New Year’s party. Granted, it was his _parents’_ party, but _still_. Oikawa had always invited Iwaizumi to all of his birthday parties back when they were kids. Oikawa even invited him to his pet frog’s birthday party when he was eleven. (Iwaizumi had actually turned up, much to Oikawa’s delight. But when Oikawa let Iwaizumi hold the frog, the frog hopped out of Iwaizumi’s hands, hopped over outside and got run over by a passing car. Safe to say, Iwaizumi was never allowed to meet any of Oikawa’s pets again. His parents never bought him another pet after that — nor did they let him have another party, now that he thinks of it — but _still_.)

      “Hey, I’m ready. Let’s go.” Iwaizumi poked his head into the room, waving over at Oikawa. “Come on. You’re the one that wanted to go practice.”

      “I’m coming,” Oikawa said, putting his half-eaten plate of cake down on the table. The two left the house and walked alongside each other in silence. Iwaizumi was wearing a denim jacket, along with a pair of jeans. In a drawstring bag, Iwaizumi had stuffed his volleyball uniform inside. Oikawa, on the other side, was wearing his under his duffle coat. Oikawa’s eyes shifted a few times, moving to admire Iwaizumi’s sense of style. Before, Iwaizumi had been the type of guy to wear checkered everything. But over the years, his style had evolved. Now, Oikawa was proud to say that Iwaizumi could compete with him when it came to fashion.

      “You’ve gotten so better at dressing,” Oikawa pondered out loud while pushing his glasses up along the bridge of his nose. “I somehow feel like I’ve lost.”

      “When did you ever win?”

      _Ouch_. Oikawa pouted at Iwaizumi, hoping that would do enough to make his hurt feelings clear. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the street. They were about to cross a semi-busy road. Even on the dawn of New Year’s, the cars were still persisting. Meanwhile, the temperature only seemed to drop the further they walked. Iwaizumi wouldn’t have been surprised if icicles started falling out of the sky in a couple of minutes. _The things I do for this idiot_ , he thought. Although, now that he looked at Oikawa, he could see that the brunette was still holding that gift for him in his hands. He had a pensive look on his face, appearing a lot more solemn than Iwaizumi would’ve expected for January 1st. Then again, it wasn’t any different from last year. Outside of volleyball, Oikawa hadn’t been speaking to anyone much.

      “What did you do for New Year’s?”

      Oikawa shrugged. “Bumped my volleyball a bit. Went through my social media. Then, I went to sleep.”

      “You were alone?”

      Oikawa let out a laugh this time, although it sounded pretty forced. “It’s nothing new, Iwa-chan. You don’t need to pity me!” He shot a grin in Iwaizumi’s direction and put his fingers up in a peace sign, although that only irritated Iwaizumi even more.

      “You could’ve phoned me, you know. You have my number, don’t you?”

      “You blocked my number,” Oikawa reminded him.

      Iwaizumi frowned. “No I didn’t.”

      “It was ages ago. Like, three or four months ago,” Oikawa explained. “You got annoyed because I kept texting you asking if you wanted to practice.” Oikawa looked up at the sky. It was a pale white shade, no clouds to be seen. It was weird. It felt like there should’ve been snow surrounding them, fragile snowflakes falling from the sky, but it was… _empty_.

      There was silence between the two for a few minutes, before Iwaizumi asked a question at last. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t block you. There’s no option to unblock.”

      Oikawa looked back down, laughing when he saw that Iwaizumi was trying to unblock his number. “You just press down and… _wait_. Why am I saved as Kusokawa?”

      “Because you’re Kusokawa,” he responded as if it were obvious.

      “You’re so mean!” Oikawa punched his shoulder, although it was more of a _bump_ than anything else. Iwaizumi laughed and handed his phone over to Oikawa, who pressed and tapped until his number was unblocked once more. “You don’t even have a contact photo saved for me, Iwa-chan. Stop walking for a minute. I’m going to take one. I just need to get the lighting… here… ah, wait. I don’t like that angle… _no_ , you can see my double chin. I look like Mr Potato. _My glasses keep doing that anime thing, for fuck’s sake_. Actually, you know what, if I go over there, the lighting should be better—”

      “It’s _cold_ ,” Iwaizumi snapped at last, reaching for his phone. Iwaizumi took it before Oikawa could snap a nice photo, much to Oikawa’s annoyance. “Come _on_. We’ll be late. How long do you think Makki and Mattsun are going to wait?”

      “Well…”

      Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes at Oikawa, noticing that Oikawa seemed to be avoiding his gaze. _Honestly, Oikawa’s just a suspicious boy by nature_. It didn’t take Iwaizumi long to work out the truth. “They’re not at the school gym, are they?”

      For some moments, Oikawa considered feigning innocence, but at last he settled for shaking his head briefly. “No. They’re not.” Oikawa was expecting Iwaizumi to go off in a strop, irritated that he’d been dragged out of his house for nothing, but to Oikawa’s surprise, Iwaizumi simply nodded.

      “In that case, let’s turn right.”

      Oikawa was feeling a bit puzzled, but he didn’t question the decision. He turned right with Iwaizumi, who was currently placing his phone back into the pocket of his jeans. He then proceeded to keep his hands in the pockets of his jeans, most likely for the warmth. It really _was_ cold out here, even for Oikawa and his massive coat.

      “What about Christmas,” Iwaizumi said at last, “did you do anything?”

      “My dad sent me a text saying ‘Happy Holidays’ and wired a couple thousand yen to my account. My mom put some money in my account too, but she was at work that day. So… uh… actually, Tobio-chan sent everyone a message saying that he hoped everyone was having a good day and that he wished them the best for 2018. He went to a shrine with the shrimp, I think.”

      “Ah, I got that message too. That was nice,” Iwaizumi said.

      “I sat downstairs. Had ramen. Watched some old movies. Fell asleep on the couch. Nothing too exciting,” Oikawa said. He was used to spending all the holidays alone. New Year’s, Halloween, Christmas… you name it, Oikawa’s most likely alone. The only exception was his birthday, where he was at school. Everyone would congratulate him and give him ‘birthday beatings’. But apart from that…

      “Look up. It’s snowing.”

      Oikawa felt the snowflakes before he saw them. One fell on top of his nose, which led Oikawa to tap his own nose so that he could feel it. Another snowflake fell on his hand, then on his head. They were also falling on Iwaizumi, although he didn’t seem too fazed by the flakes.

      “It’s almost as cold as your personality, Iwa-chan!”

      Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, but for once, he didn’t respond to the taunt. Oikawa looked over curiously, genuinely surprised that he hadn’t managed to get a rise out of Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi was focused on the street, knowing that they were only a minute or two away from their destination.

      “You know there’s already a new meme out there? It’s only January 1st and there’s already some meme about dishwashers. Or washing machines. Something like that. Makki put it on his story,” Oikawa continued, filling the silence with his words while he ran forwards, catching the snow in his hands and practically dancing around.

      “You act like you’ve never seen snow before.”

      Oikawa had such a pure smile on his face that Iwaizumi couldn’t find it in him to be irritated. He simply shook his head and carried on forwards, Oikawa burbling on about memes and all the things that everyone was up to on social media. The snow continued to fall, making Iwaizumi's cheeks tingle and his breath come out in short, stilted puffs. He _really_ hated cold weather.

      “Hey! Iwa-chan, there’s a tree over there! It’s humongous!” Oikawa, having finally spotted their destination, began to leg it.

      “Oikawa, you don’t need to run! _Goddamnit_ ,” Iwaizumi said, forced to break into a run just so he could keep up with Oikawa. “You’re going to slip!” Of course, Oikawa didn’t listen. He was like a child, giddy with excitement from the snow and the prospect of the new year. He almost _did_ slip, but he righted himself at the last second and continued to run forwards, not stopping until he’d made it over to the tree. Iwaizumi was panting behind him, hands on his knees as he recovered his breath. The air he was breathing in was cold, so cold that he felt like his lungs were slowly turning to ice. If that was the case, he really wouldn’t have been surprised.

      Iwaizumi, having finally recovered his breath, stood up and was about to go towards the tree, only to hear a shocked gasp from Oikawa. He was about to ask what was wrong, but he didn’t need to. His gaze followed Oikawa’s, all the way down to his gloved hands. Then, the gift that lay on the ground.

      “I dropped your gift…”

      “It’s fine,” Iwaizumi said, walking towards Oikawa.

      “No, it’s not. It’s ruined.” Oikawa actually sounded like he was about to cry, much to Iwaizumi’s dismay. _Okay. Um… what does he say? How does he stop Oikawa from crying_? “I dragged you out here and now I’ve broken your gift and—”

      “ _It’s fine_ , Kusokawa. Didn’t you hear me?” Iwaizumi picked the gift box up, noticing that it didn’t _sound_ any different from before. “It’s fine.” He began to peel the gift wrapping off, looking to the pouting Oikawa for confirmation. When Oikawa didn’t say anything in protest, Iwaizumi peeled the rest of it off until he was left with a single cardboard box. _I wonder if he got me that Rolex watch I’ve wanted for ages_. When Iwaizumi opened the box at last, he was surprisingly underwhelmed by its contents. There was a single sprig of mistletoe that lay inside.

      “Mistletoe?” Iwaizumi plucked it out, looking from the mistletoe, then to Oikawa. “Why’d you get me mistletoe?”

      “Why do you think?!” Oikawa’s cheeks were red, although at this point, it was clear that it wasn’t from the weather.

      “It’s my mom that collects plants, not me. Don’t you know me?”

      Oikawa let out a sigh, his breath billowing out in front of him. “Do you know what mistletoe’s actually _for_?”

      “Decoration. I’m not stupid,” Iwaizumi snapped.

      This time, Oikawa burst out into laughter, which only irritated Iwaizumi even more. Iwaizumi got off his knees and back onto his feet, cracking his knuckles as he glared up at Oikawa (you know what? He hates the fact that he has to glare _up_. As if Oikawa’s taller than him. What kind of trickery is this?)

      “Do you want to fight or something—”

      “Give it here.” Oikawa took the mistletoe out of Iwaizumi’s hand and looked at it for a few moments, holding it up to Iwaizumi’s head. Iwaizumi stared in confusion, not understanding what Oikawa was doing. The snowflakes were still drifting about in the air lazily, eventually settling down on the icy concrete. Iwaizumi guessed that it would be about an hour before a thick layer of snow settled on the roads, concrete, pretty much any surface there was. But he didn’t have time to think about that. Oikawa was suddenly close, closer than Iwaizumi had noticed before. Close enough that he could see into Oikawa’s eyes, see the hurt that lay beneath them, the utter loneliness. Once he blinked, it was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t change the fact that it had been there in the first place.

      “This is the power of the mistletoe,” Oikawa whispered, holding his breath for all but a moment before he leaned in at last, touching his lips to Iwaizumi’s. They were cold, but when their lips touched at last, it was as if they were both on fire. It was only a brief touch, which lasted all but a few seconds, but Oikawa could feel his heart going crazy inside his chest. It was as if it had exploded in a burst of flames and Oikawa was just fire incarnate, although with all this unused energy of his, he might as well have been. Oikawa’s gaze was scorching as he drew away, keeping his eyes on Iwaizumi as he moved his mistletoe-laden hand back down where it could do no harm. Iwaizumi appeared dazed at first, but after a few moments, a large smile spread across his face.

      “I know the purpose of a mistletoe, Oikawa.”

      Oikawa nodded. “I know. I spotted one in your house.”

      “It’s just that, under the mistletoe,” Iwaizumi said, taking the mistletoe out of Oikawa’s gloved hand and placing it alongside Oikawa’s head, “you can’t lie to me.”

      “I would never lie! I’m the most truthful child there is!”

      “I didn’t block you, did I?”

      Oikawa was about to insist that Iwa-chan most definitely _did_ block him and that he was a very rude child for daring to block _the_ Oikawa Tooru, but then he focused on those strong eyes. They were olive green, similar to the green of the mistletoe. Intense, serious, calm. And they were focused on him and him only.

      “No,” Oikawa breathed at last. “You didn’t. Although, if you have to check in the first place, that means you considered it. Therefore, you _might as well have blocked me_ , Iwa-chan.” Oikawa was about to pout, only to find himself being pushed up against this very same tree that had seemed like an insignificant piece of scenery at first glance. The mistletoe was now lodged up in a nearby branch, which was hanging right over their heads.

      “Pout one more time, Oikawa. I dare you.”

      Just as dared, Oikawa pouted, expecting that Iwaizumi would kiss him, and _properly_ this time. Irritation flickered on Iwaizumi’s features for a minute, but then his eyelashes fluttered shut, the muscles in his face relaxing as he leaned in. He was tilting his head, most likely preparing himself to kiss Oikawa deeply. Last time, it had been just a little peck, but now…

      “Ouch! What the hell, Iwa-chan!”

      Iwaizumi had headbutted Oikawa with all of his might, causing Oikawa to bump his head against the tree. The mistletoe drifted back down, just like the snowflakes that were falling from the sky. It bumped Oikawa on the head, before landing on the icy ground at last. Somehow, Oikawa’s glasses had managed to remain intact, although they were precariously close to falling off the bridge of his nose. Oikawa hurried to push them back up before running his hands through his hair to make sure that it hadn’t gotten _too_ messy.

      “I told you not to pout,” Iwaizumi snapped. “It pisses me off when you look all sad and pouty and stuff. But it pisses me off even more when you plaster those fake smiles on your face!”

      “That’s just my face,” Oikawa muttered, fighting the urge to pout as he rubbed his aching forehead. That had _hurt_. If it wasn’t for the tree behind him, he might’ve fallen down onto the ground. Then again, he’d probably fall as many times as Iwaizumi wanted him to. _As long as Iwaizumi stays with him, Oikawa’s okay with anything…_

      “Well, then your face pisses me off!”

      “You kiss your best friend and then you insult him not even five minutes later. You really aren’t a romantic, Iwa-chan. Come on, do better. Shakespeare would be ashamed of you,” Oikawa scolded.

      Iwaizumi thought for a few moments before responding. “What, you egg?”

      Oikawa frowned in confusion. “Egg?”

      “It’s from Shakespeare,” Iwaizumi muttered. “During the fight in Macbeth, the first murderer says that before killing the guy. See? I know Shakespare. So you can _shut up_ , Kusokawa.” Iwaizumi’s hoping that Oikawa will smile at _that_ , but when he doesn’t, he only feels himself becoming frustrated. _Maybe this whole frustration thing isn’t working_ , he thought.

      “Oh my God, are you secretly a dork?”

      “You’re the one with the glasses.”

      “Ugh. Can you just… kiss me already?”

      “No.” Iwaizumi shook his head. “I’m too annoyed now.”

      “Too annoyed? You’ve been annoyed ever since you opened your front door and saw me standing there,” Oikawa reminded him. “I-wa-ch-an. Iiiiiiiiwa-chan. I-I-Iwa- _chan_ —” Iwaizumi kissed Oikawa, though it was more to _shut him up_ than anything else. Iwaizumi’s hand drifted onto Oikawa’s cheek and his hand was so _cold_ but Oikawa couldn’t find it in him to care, all he could do was make a mental note to buy Iwaizumi gloves for his birthday, or as a celebration gift for when they make it past the prelims and beat Shiratorizawa and make it to nationals. No, actually, maybe he’ll buy the gloves when the two of them win Nationals together with their team and take back the trophy for Aoba Johsai— wait, why’s he getting distracted? He was kissing Iwaizumi, but he was _still_ thinking about all of this irrelevant stuff? He’d imagined this, imagined this since they’d stepped into high school and their hormones had kicked into gear, but it had never happened. Not until today.

      “Focus on _me_ , damnit.” Iwaizumi’s lips pressed against Oikawa’s harder, and it was at that moment Oikawa figured out what Iwaizumi was doing. _He’s funnelling his frustration through that kiss. In that case, I’ll just have to beat him_. Oikawa tore away from Iwaizumi’s lips for a brief moment. Iwaizumi was about to question him, but Oikawa took his glasses off, put them in the pocket of his coat and dived right back into the kiss, now having eliminated the danger of breaking his glasses. He bit down on Iwaizumi’s bottom lip, causing the latter to let out a breathy gasp. Oikawa used it as his opportunity to delve into Iwaizumi’s mouth, deepening the kiss and anchoring himself to Iwaizumi. He felt so light-headed that he could’ve fallen in Iwaizumi’s arms all over again, fallen for Iwaizumi the way he had when he first saw him, but he was too busy savouring this moment. The way Iwaizumi’s slightly chapped lips felt so warm against his, the way Iwaizumi’s mouth tasted like winter — ice cream, _vanilla_ ice cream — and the way Iwaizumi was still managing to dominate the kiss, even despite Oikawa’s best efforts. And he never wanted to let Iwaizumi go, because then it would mean that Oikawa would be on his own all over again, spending Christmas alone all over again, and he just doesn’t know if he’d be able to handle the same pattern for the rest of his life; he doesn’t know if he can handle not being able to feel this _heat_ again, because once the mistletoe disappears, what happens?

      He had to come back up for air at last, and he already knew that he’d lost. His heart was beating heavily in his chest; he was probably looking a mess, but Iwaizumi looked just as _manly_ as usual. _Stupid Oikawa, always catching feelings_ … but then, he looked down at the discarded mistletoe. Back up at Iwaizumi, whose eyes were now burning with desire. _Oikawa hadn’t noticed that before_.

      “You kissed me without the mistletoe.”

      Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at him. “Here comes Captain Obvious.”

      Oikawa continued to stare at Iwaizumi, lost for words. He was lost in his thoughts, lost in the fading joy of the winter snow. _If the mistletoe’s there, then what does that mean?_

      “Well… the mistletoe served its purpose,” Iwaizumi said at last, letting out a deep breath. It was there that Oikawa got his first glimpse of the fact that Iwaizumi was still recovering from that kiss they’d just had. _Maybe Oikawa didn’t lose completely_. “My house is ten minutes from here. My folks are home, but…”

      “If you want to fuck, I do have an empty house,” Oikawa said bluntly.

      Iwaizumi gave him a look of confusion. “No. That’s not what I want.” He bent down, picked up the mistletoe and presented it to Oikawa. “I want to hang this over the entrance of my house so that every time you come in, you have to kiss me. That way, you’ll never feel alone.”

      “What happens if your parents open the door?” Oikawa raised his eyebrows at Iwaizumi. “You can’t just hang the mistletoe wherever you like.”

      “Fine,” Iwaizumi said at last, seeing sense in Oikawa’s words. “We’ll hang it up in your house, wherever you choose. I’m picking _you_ up for practice from now on, so place it somewhere outside. You understand?”

      “But I live further away from the school than you do,” Oikawa reminded him.

      “Don’t care,” Iwaizumi said, determination burning in his eyes. “I’m bringing pizza on the weekends too. And coffee in the mornings. So please, will you just _smile_ now?”

      Oikawa stared at Iwaizumi, not quite sure whether he should laugh or cry. In the end, he settled for silently crying, his shoulders shaking as he looked down at the ground. The snow was still falling, but it didn’t feel quite so cold now. Especially with Iwaizumi’s hand on his face, wiping his tears away, making his face heat up even more than ever before. It was _ridiculous_ just how much of an effect Iwaizumi was having on Oikawa.

      “You cry way too much, honestly. I swear it’s been three minutes…”

      Oikawa buried his head in Iwaizumi’s shoulder, mumbling “So mean, Iwa-chan…” Iwaizumi wrapped his arms around Oikawa, rubbing his back without complaint until Oikawa’s little gulps and sniffles began to fade out. At last, Oikawa pulled away from Iwaizumi’s arms, eyes slightly red and puffy with tears. “You know, you’re the worst at being comforting. I feel like you’re rubbing a rock against my back. Your hand should feel like an _iron_. You know, how they smooth things out and make them all warm—”

      “Oikawa, do you want me to deck you?”

      “It’s 2018, Iwa-chan. You should be more _positive_. Rather than decking me, you should kiss me. Again.” Finally, Oikawa broke into a genuine smile. Iwaizumi couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Oikawa smile like this, the last time he’d seen the brunette’s eyes shining with such sincerity. His lips were slightly parted, revealing gleaming teeth and oh _God_ , were his teeth white. And suddenly, Iwaizumi was aware of his heart beating so much faster, so fast that he had to clasp his own hands together and remind himself that he needed to calm down. But, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s the reason for that smile on Oikawa’s face, that _he’s_ the reason for Oikawa’s happiness.

      “It’s cold,” Iwaizumi said at last, even though the weather was the least of his concerns. “Let’s go to your house before it starts snowing it down.” Iwaizumi turned in the direction of Oikawa’s house and began to walk, although he stopped when he realised that Oikawa wasn’t following him. “You coming?”

      Oikawa was about to nod, but when he looked away from Iwaizumi at last and at his surroundings, he could see that there were sprigs of mistletoe tied to most of the streetlights. He felt his heart practically singing for joy as he ran to Iwaizumi, practically crushing him with his large coat. The mistletoe went flying out of Iwaizumi’s hand as he stumbled back, just about able to keep his balance. _Oikawa’s energy really is too much sometimes_.

      “I love you, Iwa-chan! Can we take a selfie?! You look so cute right now! There’s snowflakes in your hair and everything…”

      Iwaizumi flushed, way too flustered to even think of admonishing Oikawa for being so damn _boisterous_. “S…Shut up, Kusokawa. Don’t make me regret this.” Oikawa already had his phone out and his arm flung around Iwaizumi’s shoulders as he snapped a photo of him grinning and Iwaizumi blushing, uploading it straight onto all of his social media accounts.

      “Perfect! Say, use this one for my contact photo—”

      “Oikawa!” Iwaizumi went to grab Oikawa, but the brunette stepped out of his reach. “You know what? Get over here,” he yelled, beginning to run after Oikawa. Oikawa grinned and ran along the path, hoping that Iwaizumi’s stamina would run out before his. Unfortunately, fate wasn’t trying to be kind to him that day. Iwaizumi caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder, twisting the brunette around. “You know what pisses me off even more than your fake smiles?”

      Oikawa frowned. “What?”

      “The fact that I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with you.” Before Oikawa could have a chance to quiz him, it was Iwaizumi’s turn to start running, leaving the slightly-slower Oikawa to leg it right after him, trying to get Iwaizumi to tell him just _what he means_. But, he never really had a chance to ask Iwaizumi just what he meant by that statement. In-between catching his breath and trying to catch Iwaizumi, they stopped underneath each mistletoe, kissing for just one moment longer than they did the last. And the snow really did start falling hard, adding new layers to the leaves and the streetlights. It didn’t faze the two.

      The only thing that fazed Oikawa was the fact that he was no longer alone. Winter had frozen his parents’ marriage, frozen a lot of his friendships, frozen the happiness that Oikawa had once known, but with one kiss, Iwaizumi had reversed all of that. With one kiss, the happiness had come flowing in, his heart had started thumping as if it were trying to break free from the restraints himself that Oikawa had set, and his hands had yearned for his Iwa-chan.

      Under the mistletoe, he’d finally found his happiness.


End file.
